Pool being the kind of game that it is, it’s not uncommon to learn that a relative ‘unknown’ has won a regional tour event. Happens all the time, because an ‘unknown’ may be a ‘known’ in a given area, honing his or her skills at local tournaments and league play. Until this past weekend, the first and only time that Rolando Aravena had his name appear in our AZBilliards database was in September 2019, when he and Justin McNulty split a third-place prize in a Scotch Doubles event on the Sunshine State ProAm Tour. This past weekend (Feb. 4-5), Aravena signed on to the Sunshine State Predator ProAm Tour’s 2023 season opener in a field that included (among others) his Scotch Doubles partner McNulty, Raymond Linares, Anthony Meglino, Donny Mills, Mike Delawder, Jason Richko, Bobby Garza and former US Open 9-Ball Champion, Tommy Kennedy. Aravena went undefeated at the $1,500-added event that drew 50 entrants to Stroker’s Billiards in Palm Harbor, FL.
Brackets being what they are, Aravena didn’t have to play all of the ‘knowns’ that signed on, but he did face a few of them along the way. He got by Justin Logan, Casey Grove and Jimmy Garza before running into Anthony Meglino in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Designated for tour purposes as a ‘pro,’ Meglino had to give Aravena two games in a race to 8. They battled to double hill before Aravena prevailed to face his former Scotch Doubles partner, McNulty, in one of the winners’ side semifinals. McNulty forfeited the match and Aravena leapfrogged into the hot seat match. In the meantime, former junior competitor Kodi Allen (now 20) had his own list of well-known competitors to contend with. He sent Dan Marchini, William Shafer and Bobby Garza to the loss side, before facing the eventual runner-up, Raymond Linares in the other winners’ side semifinal and defeating him 7-3 to meet Aravena. Aravena claimed the hot seat 8-4 over Allen and waited for what turned out to be the return of Linares.
On the loss side, Linares ran into Meglino, who’d followed his loss to Aravena with victories over Derrick Santos 8-3 and Casey Grove 8-2. Lee Heuwagen, who’d lost his opening-round match to Tommy Kennedy 8-3 (who was then downed by Donny Mills 8-5), was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak. Along the way, he’d eliminated Jason Richko 8-4, Bobby Garza 8-5 and Donny Mills 6-3 before benefiting from Jason McNulty’s earlier forfeit and leapfrogging into the quarterfinals. He was joined by Linares, who’d survived a somewhat predictable double hill battle versus Meglino.
Linares ended Heuwagen’s loss-side streak 6-5 (Heuwagen racing to 7) and then defeated Allen in the semifinal 7-2. With a single “bead on the wire” that he didn’t need, Aravena downed Linares 10-5 to claim title to the Sunshine State Predator ProAm Tour’s season opener.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked Jose Del Rio and his Stroker’s staff for their ongoing hospitality and support of the tour, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Kamui, Central Florida USA Pool League, Stitch It To Me Embroidery, AZ Billiards, Jamison Daniels, Dr. Billiards and Dr. V’s Custom Shop. The next stop on the Sunshine State Predator ProAm Tour is to be announced.
Capone’s 5th Labor Day Classic, held this past Labor Day weekend (Sept. 3-4), is in the books and the undefeated winners are Tommy Kennedy in the $500-added Open event and Rhyan Hunter in the $1,000-added Amateur event, which was open to competitors with a Fargo Rate of 640 and under. Both events yielded full fields; 64 in the Amateur event and 16 in the Open event at Capone’s in Spring Hill, FL.
Hunter was the only player in the Amateur event having to give the entire field a single game on the wire, which wasn’t enough for anyone to come close to him. His precision shooting and heart gave him the victory in every match. He opened with a shutout over JT Russell and advanced through victories over Justin Logan 7-3, Justin Ward 7-3 and another shutout, versus Dan Mello, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Andy Crews. In the meantime, eventual runner-up Ameet Kukadia, slowly becoming a regular at Capone’s events, advanced to the other winners’ side semifinal versus (unrelated to Dan) Mike Mello, who was playing in his first event at Capone’s.
Hunter defeated Crews 7-3, as Mike Mello sent Kukadia to the loss side 7-4. Hunter claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Mello and waited on Kukadia’s return.
On the loss side, Kukadia drew Dan Mello, who’d survived a double hill match against Jamison Daniels and shut out Justin Logan to reach him. Crews picked up Justin McNulty, who’d also survived a double hill match, against Benji Estor, and came within a second straight double hill match, downing Litos Davila 6-4.
Kukadia and McNulty advanced to the quarterfinals; Kukadia, 6-2 over Dan Mello and McNulty, 6-4 over Crews. Kukadia defeated McNulty in those quarterfinals 6-3 and then won his redemption match versus Mike Mello 6-2 in the semifinals.
To claim the title, Kukadia needed to win two matches against Hunter in the finals that followed. Hunter completed his undefeated run with a 7-2 win in the only set necessary.
Tommy Kennedy (File photo)
Kennedy weathers ‘challenge’ storms to go undefeated in Open event
The Open event had its share of past champions, including Jason Richko (2019) and Tony Crosby (2021). Not present was the Labor Day Classic’s 2020 Champion, Donny Mills, who was ‘laboring away’ at Turning Stone in New York state over the weekend.
“He was doing damage up there,” said TD Carrie Vetrono, “and finished as runner-up. Congratulations to Donny.”
Tommy Kennedy was a former champion, as well (2019), and his undefeated run through the Classic made him the first competitor to have his ‘name up in lights’ as winner of the event, twice. It was not an easy journey for TK.
Of the five matches Kennedy played to claim the Labor Day Classic’s 2022 Open title, two went to double hill and two more came within a game of it. He opened with an 8-6 win over Marcus Murillo and a double hill win over Richard Broumpton, which set him up in a winners’ side semifinal against one of the former champions, Jason Richko. In the meantime, Lee Heuwagen and Tony Crosby were working their way to their meetup in the other winners’ side semifinal; Crosby arriving with a 16-3 aggregate score against Zee Zee Green (0) and Ross Webster (3), Heuwagen arriving with a 16-4 aggregate score against Bobby Jones (3) and Guy Jones (1).
Kennedy got into the hot seat match 8-6 over Richko. Heuwagen joined him after a commanding 8-2 win over Crosby. TK grabbed the hot seat 8-4.
Crosby wanted the trophy and came back from the loss-side, knocking out Sandeep Swain 7-5, Ross Webster 7-1 in the quarterfinals and this time, victorious over Heuwagen in their semifinal rematch 7-5.
Kennedy and Crosby locked up in what was Kennedy’s second double hill match. After a long day of shooting, Crosby fell short, giving way in the 15th rack and handing Kennedy the title.
TD Carrie Vetrono thanked everyone that participated and helped make Capone’s 5th Annual Labor Day Classic the tournament that it was.
“Without everyone’s help we could not do this,” she said. “Special thanks to Rocco-Rocky McElroy and his Capone’s staff for all they do, as well as Joel Vetrono and Anthony Fisher for helping send matches out on the amateur event.”
The next event at Capone’s, scheduled for the weekend of October 8-9, will be an Open Handicap event that will play out on the venue’s 9-foot tables.
The Mezz West State Tour travelled to gorgeous Stiix Billiards in Ventura, California over the weekend of May 23rd and 24th. The event attracted 93 players, which Rodney Morris, Oscar Dominguez, Sal Butera, Beau Runningen, Dave Hemmah and Vilmos Foldes were just a few heavy hitters that made it out to the tournament. Not to be taken lightly, the open players made their presence known with the attendance of Chris Robinson, Attila Csorba, Manny Herrera, Joey Chin, Geoff Somers and newcomer Brian Cady.
The top half of the bracket was all about the “7”players with Brian Cady, Melissa Herndon, Manny Herrera and Joey Chin making it out of a tough top bracket to find themselves in the final eight winners side. The bracket included big names such as Brian Parks, Sal Butera and Dave Hemmah. Newcomer, Brian Cady made his way to the final eight winners by finding victory over tour regulars James Harris, Bob DePlachett and Justin Logan before running into Manny Herrera in the final eight. Manny found himself there after wins over Rich Hodge, Spencer Ladin, Jay Beatty and Chino Reyes. The match between Brian and Manny went HILL-HILL with Brian taking the W, securing him into the final four winners of the event to face off against LA local Joey Chin. Joey Chin secured his spot in the final four by winning against Mark Anthony Hernandez, Brook Thomason, Sal Butera and Chris Santana before running into Melissa Herndon in the final eight. Melissa took wins over Juan Smith, Geoff Somer and Bob Jocz. The Melissa and Joey match up went HILL-HILL as well, with Joey making a great out to secure the win. In the final four, Brian Cady vs Joey Chin was one to be seen. The match stayed tied the entire set, eventually reaching HILL-HILL once again, with Brian Cady moving onto the hot seat match.
The bottom bracket was also loaded with killers like Oscar Dominguez, Rodney Morris, Vilmos Foldes, Corey Harper, Attila Csorba, Daminen Rebman, Beau Runningen and young-gun Chris Robinson. Making their way to the final eight winners were Attila Csorba with wins over Frank “The Barber” Almanza, Ashton Schaffer and Rhiyan Qi, where he was met with top player Corey Harper. Corey Harper found his way there with wins over Rodney Morris, a match that he was down 8-2 in and grinded back to win 9-8, Henry Brodt and Marshall Anonby. The match between Csorba and Harper was heavily one sided, with Csorba taking the win and moving on the final four winners , where he would meet Oscar Dominguez who took wins over Cole Gibbons, Dan Aguiar, Vilmos Foldes and Chris Robinson. The face-off between Dominguez and Csorba was a tough one, but in the end Csorba made a few errors that Dominguez took advantage of, allowing Dominguez to be victorious 9-5 and sending him to face Brian Cady in the hot seat match.
In the hot seat match, Dominguez showed complete domination over Cady winning 9-4, without Cady making too many errors. Cady would then travel to the loser side and await his chance to make it to the finals.
The losers side was a battle with Dave Hemmah winning 7 matches straight until being knocked out by Chris Robinson and forcing him to take 7th/8th. Chris Robinson went on to knock out Joey Chin, before losing to Attila Csorba, forcing him to take 4th place in the 93 player field. Csorba would now face a determined Cady for his chance in the finals. Cady out played Csorba winning 9-5 and giving him another chance at Dominguez in the finals.
During the finals, each player struggled with the break, forcing several dry breaks and push outs. In the end Dominguez took advantage of every error Cady made found himself winning 11-6. This was the first ever win for Dominguez on the MWST and would push him into the #1 spot in the point rankings.
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com).
We would also like to thank owners Jerry and Peggy Matchin, along with the entire Stiix Ventura Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour.
The Mezz West State Tour traveled to San Francisco, CA to the Billiard Palacade owned and operated by the enormously generous and kind, Murcia. A great field of 73 players came from all over California, Nevada, and even from Europe. The 5th stop of the tour was 10 ball to be played on the 13 beautiful AMF antique tables which Billiard Palacade had refelted specifically for this event.
The top half of the bracket was dominated by World Cup of Pool team India member, Amar Kang. The Sacramento, California ace has had excellent results on the tour and for years on the west coast with elite players. Some of his victories included a strong win over Filipino champion, Rodrigo Geronimo, Deo Alpojara, Johnny Kang, and Oscar Dominguez for the hotseat. As previously mentioned, Oscar Dominguez came up short to Kang in the hotseat but not before disposing of several strong local talent and Romanian expat, only known as Babken on the bottom half of the bracket.
On the losers side, several upsets took place including the fairly early departure of tour points leader, Rodrigo Geronimo by Hungarian young gun, Attila Bezdan after defeating his best friend and road partner Vilmos Foldes. In addition, former junior national champion, Beau Runningen, fought valiantly on the losers side after a loss to Deo Alpojara. Beau went on to defeat the always tough Justin Logan, Johnny Kang, and Babken until he ran into Dominguez who stopped Beau, from going to the finals.
The finals between Amar and Oscar would be a true double elimination where Oscar needed to win twice for the victory while Amar needed to only win once. After a strong start by Kang to lead 7-2, Dominguez forged a comeback to win 9-7 and force a second and deciding set. The duo agreed to call it a night as it was 3 am and it would be safer for all parties driving home that night.
Also, the Mezz West State Tour would like to congratulate Emilyn Collado on her Top Female finish!
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Mezz Cues, West State Billiard Supply, Kurzweil’s Country Meats, AZBilliards, NYCGrind, Fast&Loose Designs, ZAN tips, POVPool, and Turtle Rack. Also, a very special thank you to Francisco Murcia and his entire family for their warm hospitality and generosity to promote the sport we all love. Next stop is at On Cue Billiards in La Mesa, CA. We hope to see you there and be sure to tune in to POVPool.com to watch all the action live and free!
In a star-studded, Hard Times 10-Ball tournament, held on the weekend of May 4-6, Dennis Orcullo won seven matches on the loss-side and dominated Shane Van Boening in the finals to become the third Filipino champion of this annual tournament. Lee Van Corteza (2010) and Alex Pagalayun (2011) were the previous champions. The $5,000-added event drew 64 entrants, including Rodney Morris, Mike Davis, Mitch Ellerman, Francisco Bustamante, Oscar Dominguez, Scott Frost, Raj Hundal and Brandon Shuff to Hard Times in Bellflower, CA.
Van Boening’s path to the winners’ side final four went through Justin Logan, Mitch Ellerman, Mike Davis and among the final eight, Francisco Bustamante. He faced Manny Chau in the winners’ side semifinals, as Max Eberle faced Corey Harper. Van Boening got into the hot seat match with a 9-3 victory over Chau, and faced Eberle, who’d sent Harper west 9-4. Van Boening downed Eberle in the battle for the hot seat 9-4 and waited for the fateful return of Orcullo.
Orcullo, who’d opened his tournament bid with victories over Branch Talley and Scott White, moved to the loss side on the heels of 9-5 victory by Louis Ulrich in the third round of play. His seven-match march back to the finals began with victories over Ernesto Dominguez and Ramin Bakhtiari. He then downed Bustamante 9-7, and Morris 9-6 to pick up Harper. Chau drew Scott Frost, who’d defeated Ulrich 9-3 (spoiling any re-match possibility for Orcullo), and Kenichi Uchigaki 9-5.
It was Orcullo and Frost advancing to the quarterfinals; Orcullo with a 9-4 win over Harper, and Frost 9-7 against Chau. Orcullo dropped Frost into fourth place 9-3 and completed his seven-match, loss-side winning streak with a 9-3 victory over Eberle in the semifinals.
Orcullo came out smoking in the single, race-to-11 finals, jumping out to a lead and giving up only three racks to Van Boening. At the conclusion of the match, Orcullo stepped to the end of the table and began preparations for a 15th rack. He had to be informed that the match was over, and began accepting congratulations. And for the third year in a row, Max Eberle placed third.
Justin Logan sent Jason Richko to the loss side during the April 14 stop on the Players HXT Classic Tour, but Richko returned to defeat him in the finals. The event drew 20 entrants to Strokers in Palm Harbor, FL.
Logan and Richko first squared off in one of the two winners’ side semifinals. Ron Famiano and Mark Wathen made up the second pairing. Logan sent Richko over 7-5, and in the hot seat battle, faced Famiano, who had survived a double hill battle against Wathen. Logan gave up only a single rack against Famiano, and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the return of Richko.
Richko moved west to meet up, first, with Jon Wing, who’d defeated Jarred Schkaych 5-2 and Paul Mullins 5-2. Wathen picked up Sascha Kauper, who’d gotten by David Fergusson 5-2 and a player identified as only J.B., 5-1. Richko eliminated Wing 7-5, as Wathen did likewise to Kauper 7-1.
Richko won the quarterfinals versus Wathen 7-4, and completed his loss-side trek with a 7-1 victory over Famiano in the semifinals. He took top honors with a 7-3 victory over Logan in the finals.
